ESPC house-price report: reasons for optimism

Partner news

The latest house-price report from Scottish property portal ESPC presents a market

that offers reasons to be optimistic for buyers and sellers across Edinburgh, the

Lothians, Fife and the Scottish Borders, despite the backdrop of ongoing global events and economic uncertainty.

The picture revealed by this month’s report, looking at February-April 2026, appears at first glance to show a slowing of the market; however, the comparison is to an exceptionally strong month in April 2025, whereas the figures shown in this month’s report are more in line with what is usually seen during this period.

Using data from February-April 2026, the report shows that there has been no change in

the overall average selling price across the regions, with the average sitting at £284,932.

There is, however, a pattern of substantial price growth in commuter-friendly locations such as Dunfermline; East Lothian; West Fife and Kinross; and West Lothian, hovering between 7 and 10.5 per cent, contrasting with a 10.8 per cent decrease in average selling prices in Edinburgh city centre. ESPC said this might reflect homeowners looking for homes with more longevity, in suburban locations.

The most affordable property type on the market was two-bedroom flats in Dunfermline, with an average selling price of £145,250. Within Edinburgh, the most affordable property type was one-bedroom flats in Gorgie, with an average price of £153,793.

The proportion of properties going to a closing date reduced marginally from 17.9 per cent to 17.3 per cent, while properties sold for an average of 101.2 per cent of their home-report valuation – just 0.2 percentage points less than in the same period of 2025.

Sales volumes were down more significantly, by 6.6 per cent annually. However, ESPC reported much higher volumes of website views per property

Valuation requests have soared by 24 per cent year-on-year, indicating a potential influx of properties coming onto the market in the weeks and months to come.

Encouragingly, properties sold faster than during this time last year, with the median selling time improving by four days overall. In Edinburgh, properties sold seven days faster compared to last year.

The Scottish Borders and East Fife both saw huge shifts in how quickly properties went under offer, with the median selling times for these regions reducing by 24 and 25 days respectively.

The fastest-selling properties overall were two-bedroom flats in Corstorphine and one-bedroom flats in the Easter Road area, both going under offer in a median time of 11 days, hinting at serious demand from first-time buyers. Nine of the top-10 quickest-selling property types were one- and two-bedroom flats.

In East Lothian, a traditionally highly resilient and hugely in-demand region, selling times were eight days slower year-on-year, and sales volumes were down. However,  selling prices were up by 10.5 per cent. This could hint at a focused shift to the prime property market in this area, with increasing interest in the higher-value homes on the market, ESPC observed.

www.espc.com